What should readability statistics be

If you're writing the next viral thinkpiece, you'll want to have an original take on a topic and you have something important to say. It's equally important to make sure you communicate your message clearly. The last thing you want is to slave for hours over your text, only for it to be lost in the ether.

All because it's just too confusing and frustrating to read. According to George Klare, a key researcher and writer on the topic of readability, most popular novels are written at a 7th-grade reading level.

The average adult reads at around grade 9. But, for recreation, they enjoy reading a couple of grades under their actual reading grade level. There are a lot of ingredients that go into making best-selling popular fiction. One of these is good readability. The success of releases that use simple writing proves that plain language should be embraced and not looked down upon. We're all taught in school that using complicated language makes us look smarter.

In the real world, when we try to shoehorn in these complicated words, we fall prey to incoherence. Let's go through some key examples. A quick look at Goodreads' popular fiction shelf shows that some of the most popular titles are familiar to us as books we read in school. Books that used simple yet striking language that managed to get through to an adolescent reader.

This doesn't mean they're teen fiction, necessarily - it just means the writers appreciate this time in our lives. We're just starting to form our own ideas about the world around us and engage with artistic concepts at a higher level. We're starting to read between the lines and we're able to interpret the themes and moral implications of a text. A good writer certainly doesn't want to exclude this audience.

A good writer also doesn't want to exclude the average adult in the working world who doesn't always want to come back from a hard day and pry apart Heidegger. Readable rating: A Flesch-Kincaid grade level: 4. This is possibly one of the greatest political soundbites of all time. I bet most of the people who watched the election coverage when Ronald Reagan was running remember this line well 30 years later. I made up a few soundbites of my own to help explain the importance of readability in your writing:.

You can learn more awesome tips for creating memorable media soundbites and getting more exposure with your message in The Media Training Bible by Brad Phillips. Another great book for coming up with great slogans, soundbites and marketing messages for your business is POP! It must be well-organized so your readers can easily find and use the information they need in non-fiction.

You can use lists to organize large groups of information. If your reader might need to refer back to your list of information repeatedly, consider creating a checklist they can download, print and use often.

Lastly, consider adding some humor to your writing. Sometimes having a little fun with your writing can make the writing process more fun for you, and it can definitely make reading your book a lot more entertaining for your readers! There are plenty of tools and websites you can use to measure the readability of your work. I like the handy tool from Readability Score because it uses all the different measuring systems I just mentioned.

I try to shoot for at least a score on the Flesch-Kincaid readability scale which rates on a scale from , with a score of being easily readable for the average 5th grader. At a , the teenager can easily read and understand your work. Readability scores should only be used as a general guideline to give you a general idea of how easy your work is to read. More importantly, your readers will find reading your work takes a lot less effort and can be a lot more fun.

At the end of the day, your readability score is just a number. What really matters is that your readers can easily understand all the ideas you meant to communicate. He is also the host of the Publishing Profits Podcast show where we interview successful authors and publishing industry experts to share their tips for creating a successful writing career. Hi Janet, you might be interested in learning more with this article : We have lots of other content and resources related to self-publishing, so please let me know if you have any specific needs or questions!

Hi Patricia, you might find this ebook self-publishing guide helpful : We also have a lot of other posts and resources for self-publishing, so if you have any specific needs or questions just let me know!

Your email address will not be published. But can a simple number really tell you how good your writing is? Not quite. You can load up your writing with huge run-on sentences, use complex language, strange phrases and foreign words to make your puzzle a little more difficult… Or you can use simple sentence structure as much as possible.

Short paragraphs are great, too. Use Simple, Shorter Words Shorter words are easier to read and understand. True story according to TheLadders, an online job-matching service, six seconds is all the time you have for your resume to stand out and make a great and lasting first impression. You probably want to make those seconds count.

Recruiters are busy and need to be able to look over your resume and quickly find the information they need. Which means it is vital to keep your resume clear, crisp, clean, and concise. You do not have to reinvent the wheel and design a resume from scratch if you do not want to.

But the design can go a long way to getting you a job. If you decide to add your resume text to a template — make sure you choose one with great design or add your own touches to the template. You want your resume aesthetically pleasing and eye-catching so that the first impression of your resume is a good one.

Here are some design tips you can implement into your resume:. Most of your resume should be black and white, it is professional, aesthetically pleasing, and makes the text easier to read. Make sure your content is easy to understand.

Grammarly can help. Try Grammarly. Readability is a quality of your writing. If the readability of your text is high, people will be able to understand your sentences easily.